Physicists still study aether, but that doesn't mean it's taken as fact. Understanding where ideas and notation came from and how a field has grown to it's current state is important.
I am a practicing physicist and I took a whole course on the history and development of physics and the natural sciences in general. It was useful.
For example, the general public, and even scientists and engineers, still talk about "heat flow" as though temperature itself is a fluid being transfered between objects. This is incorrect physically, but nevertheless there are clear mathematical analogies between how objects in contact with each reach equilibrium, and other physical systems, like two containers filled with water to different levels and connected with a pipe at the base. The reason for this is entirely historical, and if one is not mindful of that the terminology can be very misleading.
